Filamentous Freshwater Algae of the ACT, a preliminary list

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Chutes, riffles and cascades will usually support a healthy population of attached green algae, especially if there is little or no riparian shading. The likely species in these localities in the ACT are Rhizoclonium riparium, Cladophora glomerata and a rhizoid forming species of Spirogyra, with four chloroplasts per cell that fits the S. fluviatilis complex. In spring these may be joined by Stigioclonium tenue or S. helveticum. The concrete walls and gutters of Gross Pollution Traps and similar structures in waterways in the ACT provide suitable substrates and water regimes (high dissolved salts and nutrient levels, with shallow but more or less permanent hydration) for Cyanoprokaryotic mat formers (Phormidium spp; Oscillatoria spp; Microcoleus spp) and Cladophora aegagropila and Pithophora oedogonia. However, the Cyanoprokaryotic mat formers also turn up in less altered conditions. Causeways, like that in Tuggeranong Ck, display a succession, including diatoms that might otherwise only be observed as part of a biofilm on rock or aquatic plants and debris, difficult to describe or characterise on inspection. Table 2: Listing of algae for habitat sensitivity. Cyanoprokaryota Greens Others Sensitive Rivularia spp. Chaetophora elegans Moderately Tolerant Nostoc pruniforme Draparnaldiopsis Chaetophora attenuata Draparnaldia mutabilis; Stigeoclonium helveticum; Klebsormidium spp Zygnema spp; Paralella novaezealandiae Tolerant Nostoc commune Rhizoclonium riparium Microcoleus Stigeoclonium paludosus; tenue; Spirogyra Oscillatoria spp. fluviatilis complex; Hydrodictyon reticulatum; Cladophora glomerata Very Tolerant Phormidium Cladophora aegagropila; Pithophora oedogonia Tabellaria flocculosa Melosira varians 8
See below for a proposal for a SIGNAL 2-like scheme for both growth form and tolerance in locally occurring species. This is designed to be extracted and used by Waterwatchers and others interested in adding algal information to water quality data. 2b. Using Algae to add to Water Condition data. A Field Key to Freshwater Macroalgae in the Upper Murrumbidgee Region. 1. Algal material either encrusting or attached to the substrate a. Encrusting i. Slimy or greasy, more or less robust, drying in flakes Cyanoprokaryotic crusts ii. Gritty or gelatinous, fragile, drying as a white powder Bacillariophyceae (diatoms) b. Attached i. Discrete cushions or balls 1. Dark green or black Rivularia or Nostoc (Cyanoprokaryota) 2. Bright green or glassy Chaetophora or Coleochaete (green algae) ii. Tufts or streamers 1. Apple green, slippery, fragile Stigeoclonium or Draparnaldia 2. Dull green to yellow, coarse, robust a. Like a blanket, smell of wet wool or tom cat Cladophoraceae b. Full of silt, fishy or geosmin smell Vaucheria If it is a small ‘conifer-like’ free standing plant, then it’s a stonewort, probably Chara or Nitella. 1. Algal material free floating a. Coarse to feel, often yellowish or brownish grey i. Fragile, little or no small Oedogonium ii. Robust, wet wool or tom cat smell Cladophoraceae b. Fine to feel, often bright or bottle green or bluish i. Silky to feel, green Zygnemaceae ii. Slimy to feel, sometimes bluish Compsopogon or filamentous desmids iii. Bulky, and either tubular or net-like 1. Net-like Hydrodictyon reticulatum 2. Tubular, like bait-weed Enteromorpha sp c. Tubular and compact, usually with a whitish end Duck poo! At low power, under a dissecting microscope, or even with a good hand lens you can go further with some of the groups. 9
Page 1 and 2: Filamentous Freshwater Algae of the
Page 3 and 4: INTRODUCTION Filamentous algae in w
Page 5 and 6: Chapter 1. A year at the causeway o
Page 7: Chapter 2: Tolerant and Sensitive F
Page 11 and 12: Table 3: Growth Rating of Algae: Sc
Page 13 and 14: Chapter 3: Examples of the filament
Page 15 and 16: Microcoleus mats in a Gross Polluti

Filamentous Freshwater Algae of the ACT, a preliminary list

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